Since hitting it big back in the early 2010s, Tyler Okonma, aka Tyler, the Creator, has become one of the most prominent names in hip-hop culture. The rapper, who has been pretty vocal about their love for jazz, has continued to rule the realm of hip-hop by blending different genres, including jazz.
But while the See You Again rapper’s decision to incorporate jazz in their features has paid off greatly, as a kid, Okonma’s musical taste hindered their social life, as the rapper struggled to bond with their community.
Tyler, the Creator’s Musical Taste Didn’t Sit Well With Their Peers
Growing up, Tyler, the Creator loved Good Charlotte and Kenny G, whose influence is pretty notable in their works. However, Okonma’s love for them apparently didn’t sit well with their peers, as the rapper explained that in the black community, “we just have to stick together and be so strong“.
Given Okonma’s taste in music, which didn’t sit well with their classmates, the rapper recalled, “They kinda swayed away from it”.
I wasn’t shy but I was really hyper. Nobody got my sense of humor. I was a black skater kid. I liked f-cking Good Charlotte and Kenny G, and I was black. And I went to school with a bunch of black kids so they kinda swayed away from me… In the black community, being different is the one thing that’s just like… I guess because of slavery and sh-t, we just have to stick together and be so strong that being different is taboo. It’s like you can’t think outside the box in the black community.
Further weighing on their stance against race, the rapper stressed that their skin tone has nothing to do “with the f-cking notes I’m playing?”, and expressed that they prefer to stay away from this discourse.
Tyler the Creator Recounts Their Inspiration for Chromakopia
While influences from jazz are pretty apparent throughout their discography, for Okonma’s 7th studio album, Chromakopia, the rapper took the lessons from their mother into account. Even though Tyler, the Creator didn’t get the geist of it at the time, with them now 32, Tyler expressed that they have finally understood what their mom meant, which now serves as the base for the new album.
Now that I’m 33, all that stuff is like ‘oh that’s what the f-ck she was talking about. ‘Oh I’m not the guy I was at 20. Oh shit, people are getting older, folks having kids and families.’ All I’ve got is a new Ferrari, that does feel kind of weird. I’ve got a grey hair on my chest. Life is life. I just wanted to write about stuff I think about when I’m dolo’ing.
Releasing three years after their last album, Call Me If You Get Lost, the early reactions to the Chromakopia have been pretty on-brand from what fans have come to expect from the Creator.
Chromakopia is available to stream on Spotify.
